Toned

ppl. a. and adj.

  I.  ppl. a. [f. TONE v. + -ED¹.]

  1.  a. Sounded with the proper, or a specified, tone.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xii. 419. Thay [notes] were gentyll and small, And well tonyd with all.

1533.  Bellenden, Livy, V. xviii. (S.T.S.), II. 203. The cryis & evill tonyt sangis of þe gaulis.

  b.  Of body or mind: Brought into tone (TONE sb. 7); braced, strung. Chiefly with adv., as well-toned, toned-up.

1742.  Young, Nt. Th., VIII. 1285. Juices, thro’ the well-ton’d Tubes, well-strain’d.

1855.  Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xiv. III. 432. A human being whose mind was quite as firmly toned at eighty as at forty.

1879.  H. Spencer, Data of Ethics, vi. § 36. 90. Showing by toned-up face and vivacious manner … greater energy.

  2.  Slightly or finely colored or shaded; tinted. Toned paper, paper which is not quite white, but cream-colored or slightly buff.

1864.  N. & Q., 3rd Ser. VI. 454/1. That yellowish-coloured, or what is now called toned paper, is … more beautiful and pleasant to the eyes than the glaring white paper of modern times.

1869.  Advt., in A. Stafford’s Fem. Glory. Toned paper, limp cloth, red edges.

1877.  Mrs. Oliphant, Makers Flor., iv. 117. Soft shades of those toned marbles which fit so tenderly into each other.

  b.  Photogr. Treated with chemicals so as to acquire the desired tone or shade of color.

1861.  Photogr. News Alm., in Circ. Sc. (c. 1865), I. 155/1. Imperfectly-toned patches will be the result.

1892.  Photogr. Ann., II. 97. The toned and fixed prints are immersed in a strong solution of common salt.

  II.  adj. [f. TONE sb. + -ED².] 3. In combination: Having a tone (in various senses) of a specified kind or quality; e.g., deep-, fine-, high-, low-toned. See also the adjs.

1790.  Gouv. Morris, in Sparks, Life & Writ. (1832), I. 350. A higher toned Government than that of England.

1812.  W. Tennant, Anster F., III. xli. The brass-ton’d clarion gave the air a thump.

1870.  Rock, Text. Fabr., vi. (1876), 54. A fine toned yellow as a ground.

1896.  Idler, March, 291/2. The deep-toned, old-fashioned furniture of the housekeeper’s room.